FIFA President Gianni Infantino made a controversial visit to a youth soccer event in the Caribbean, sparking widespread attention during intense criticism of his recent proposal involving World Cup profits.

Infantino shared photos on Instagram from his meeting with officials in the Dominican Republic at the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) youth tournament held at the Punta Cana resort. This visit came despite a request from Victor Montagliani, President of CONCACAF, to avoid appearing at the event. Montagliani warned that Infantino’s presence might shift media focus away from the tournament’s sports objectives due to the ongoing governance crisis at FIFA.

“I believe that considering the governance crisis surrounding FIFA as a result of your controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal, the media will focus on this situation,” Montagliani wrote, “which will unfortunately significantly take away from the technical nature of the CFU youth competition.”

Despite Montagliani’s requests, FIFA did not offer a comment. However, the organization funds bodies like the CFU significantly, providing up to $5 million each World Cup cycle.

The situation highlights tensions within FIFA’s ranks. Various leaders, including UEFA’s Aleksander Ceferin and the Asian Football Confederation’s Sheik Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, have joined Montagliani in expressing dissatisfaction with Infantino’s leadership. They have opposed his secret plan to create a subsidiary from FIFA’s commercial activities, involving significant investment from private sources.

Infantino withdrew the proposal on August 1 following criticism from sports leaders and fans. Concerns were publicly voiced, including by FIFA’s Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour, who criticized the proposal and leadership style before being dismissed earlier this week.

The Caribbean federations might play a pivotal role for Infantino in gaining support, opposing the stance of their CONCACAF counterparts. Meanwhile, the South American organization CONMEBOL supports Infantino, seeing him as advantageous for expanding the 2030 World Cup from 48 to 64 teams.

In Punta Cana, Infantino chose to avoid engagement with journalists. When approached by James Matthews of Sky News about allegations of betrayal and calls for resignation, Infantino sidestepped the inquiries with light remarks instead.

Infantino aims for re-election for a fourth and final term in office with the FIFA presidential election set for next March in Rabat, Morocco. Candidates must declare their intent by November 18.